


Live a Little

by Stonnn



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Is Jealous, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Marvel Cinematic Universe Fusion, Author Has Not Seen Infinity War Or Endgame, Crack, Fluff, Hawk Moth is Gabriel Agreste, Hawkmoth Is A Desperate Idiot, Identity Reveal, Lila Rossi Can Fall Off A Bridge, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Is A Superhero Nerd, Mostly fluffy nonsense, Multi, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Oblivious Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir and Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Probably Some Angst There At The End, She's Not In This I Just Thought It Needed Saying, Slow To Update, Some Might Even Say Glacially So, Superhero Convention!, Superhero Shenanigans, The Avengers Think Ladybug And Chat Noir Are Adorable, The Miraculous Ladybug/Marvel Crossover Absolutely No One Asked For, They're Oblivious But They're Cute So We'll Let It Slide, Thomas Astruc Doesn't Care About Timeline So Neither Do I, at the end there, but also probably, eventually, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-10-24 12:16:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20705864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stonnn/pseuds/Stonnn
Summary: “It’s asuperhero convention!We’d get to meet so many incredible people! It’s in New York City! Captain America is going to be there! Iron Man is going to be there!” She said goodbye to the remainder of her dignity as she dramatically flopped back from where she was perched at the edge of the Eiffel Tower, the cool metal of the ledge pressing into her back. “Black Widowis going to be there!”As abruptly as she had collapsed, she suddenly vaulted back up, grabbing Chat Noir’s face with both hands and fixing him with the most serious expression she could manage.“I have to meet Black Widow.”The Avengers are hosting a superhero convention in New York City, and our favorite Parisian heroes will be attending! Can they maintain their secrecy while living in Avengers Tower? What will the American supers make of our adorable duo? And justwhatis Hawk Moth up to?Takes place pre-Ultron and approximately six years after the beginning of Miraculous Ladybug.





	1. Who Ordered the Exposition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm doing that thing where I write the first chapter of a work that I'm really excited about even though I know enough about myself to know that I should wait until it's pretty much complete to start updating but I am a weak, weak fool. 
> 
> Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to keep the momentum going on this one. As of right now I'm not sure there's going to be a serious plotline, but we'll see. I do intend to do an identity reveal, and before that I hope to explore several sides of the love square.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Is it even possible?” Marinette asked Tikki, a small furrow between her brows.

The kwami shrugged. “Well, it’s not something we do often, you understand. It’s unusual, but not impossible.” Tikki flew over to sit on top of the sewing machine on Marinette’s desk. “Theoretically, as long as you don’t use your Lucky Charm, and Chat Noir doesn’t use his Cataclysm, you could stay transformed indefinitely. In reality, that doesn’t really work out.” She giggled. “Humans have all these bizarre needs, like using the bathroom and showering, not to mention that sleeping while transformed is not very comfortable.”

Marinette blanched. “I didn’t even think about using the bathroom. Yeesh!” 

“But as long as you had regular breaks in order to detransform to take care of necessities, and some sort of guarantee that your identity would be protected while vulnerable, there’d be no reason it couldn’t work!” Tikki looked almost alarmingly excited.

Marinette frowned again. “There’d be no way to guarantee our security, though. There’ll be cameras everywhere, surely!”

Tikki flew to hover in front of Marinette. “That is where I come in, Marinette!”

“How, what could you do?”

Tikki gave an exaggerated wink. “Magic!”

* * *

Chat looked at her a bit blankly for a moment. She could only imagine what was going through his head.

“Who are you and what have you done with My Lady.”

She couldn’t tell if he was joking. “Okay, first of all, not funny. The number of incidents in which we have been cloned, mimicked, replaced, or otherwise perverted are too many to list. Let’s not go there. Second of all, I am totally serious!” She tried her best to look earnest. She was sure it worked. Alya assured her she had resting honest-face.

Chat winced. “Okay, fair point about the cloning, sorry. But come on! You’re always the most protective of our identities, the idea that you want to do something that is almost guaranteed to compromise them is a little out there!”

“But that’s the thing! I was talking to Tikki earlier, and she thinks it’d be possible to take part without revealing our identities! She said that kwamis have the ability to protect their holders’ identities! Not long term, of course, that would put a strain on them, but certainly for a week or so!” Despite having had more time than Chat to digest the information, Marinette was practically vibrating with excitement. “I wanted to discuss it with you right away, in case it wasn’t something you’d be interested in, in which case the whole thing would be moot anyway, so I don’t know the details, but I trust Tikki. If she says it could work, then I believe her.”

She knew she was babbling a bit, but she couldn’t help it. The whole idea was so thrilling she was a little afraid her brain would just short out, and she’d be back to the incoherent mess she’d been when she’d first fallen for Adrien all those years ago.

Chat was still looking at her, though his expression was slowly slipping from skeptical to fondly amused, which could only be a good sign. 

“Why is this so important to you? I’ve never seen you this worked up about anything but an akuma attack.”

She’d have liked to say she maintained her careful composure, but unfortunately her excitement overruled her sense.

“It’s a _superhero convention!_ We’d get to meet so many incredible people! It’s in New York City! Captain America is going to be there! Iron Man is going to be there!” She said goodbye to the remainder of her dignity as she dramatically flopped back from where she was perched at the edge of the Eiffel Tower, the cool metal of the ledge pressing into her back. “_Black Widow_ is going to be there!”

As abruptly as she had collapsed, she suddenly vaulted back up, grabbing Chat Noir’s face with both hands and fixing him with the most serious expression she could manage. 

_“I have to meet Black Widow.” _

Chat’s face, slightly squished between the palms of her hands, began to twitch. 

“My Lady, are you—you’re not—are you secretly a _fangirl?"_ Whatever internal struggle he’d undergone, stoicism had clearly given way as he began cackling, Marinette’s hands dropping from his face as he clutched his stomach and laughed. He was about two inches from tumbling off the edge of the tower—that is, if Marinette didn’t push him first.

“I am not!” She did her utmost to sound indignant, but embarrassment raised her voice about an octave—no mean feat—and warmed her face. “Chat!”

“You are!” he gasped, “Ladybug is a closet _superhero nerd!_”

Marinette rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “Can we get back to the topic at hand, please?”

It took several more minutes, but eventually Chat calmed down, wiping his eyes as he regained composure. “Alright, alright, sorry. Sorry. Yes, serious business, okay.” She definitely wasn’t sure he was as focused as he promised to be, but they didn’t have all night. She wanted to be able to sleep eventually, after all.

While his expression remained open, Chat did sober a bit. “In all seriousness, My Lady, do you really think jetting off to another country right now is a good idea? I know Hawk Moth has been quiet lately, but—"

“He hasn’t just been quiet, Kitty, he’s been _absent_. There hasn’t been an akuma attack in almost a month, and I know it’s not for lack of emotionally distressed people. He’s building up to something big, and while I know there will never be a great time to leave the city until he’s caught, there’s also never been a _better_ time.”

Chat looked thoughtful, and she continued. “If he is building up to something, then best case scenario, our leaving the city forces him to postpone. Worst case scenario—we hop on the first flight back to Paris. Though since he’s after our Miraculous, it doesn’t make much sense to try anything while we’re gone.”

Chat met her eyes. “And if he follows us to New York?”

She smiled at him gently. “Then we deal with him there.” She smirked. “We’ll be more or less surrounded by some of the most powerful superheroes in the world, too. That certainly can’t hurt our odds.”

Looking at Chat’s face, he seemed much more receptive to the idea than he had earlier. “Okay, but that’s another thing—I know you said Tikki had an idea for disguising our identities, but there’ll be tons of people, and cameras, and everything! It’s hard to imagine how we’d be able to get through a week without someone figuring us out.” 

Ladybug smiled. “For this, we’re gonna need our kwamis.” She stood and, with a glance at Chat to make sure he was following, swung down to a lower level of the tower. From there she hopped into the elevator, Chat just behind her. 

She pushed him down onto the floor, and, as the doors closed them off from the outside world, plopped down with her back to his, legs folded beneath her. 

She nudged Chat with her elbow. “Don’t look.”

He chuckled. “I never do.”

“Spots off.”

“Claws in.”

Ladybug, now once again Marinette, caught Tikki as she drifted gently down into her hands. She reached into her pocket for a cookie—she’d have to wash this jacket soon, the pockets were getting very crumby—handing it to a grateful Tikki as she heard Plagg whining from behind her. 

“Please tell me we’re not gonna be sitting around talking for hours, some of us have some very important beauty rest to be getting back to.”

She heard Chat chuckle. “Plagg, you sleep eighteen hours a day, you can spare some time to help us figure this out. Here, have some cheese.”

“Aaah, at last, my sweet, sweet love, my one and only, my delicious, _creamy_—"

“Argh, enough, Plagg, we do not need to hear you wax poetic over camembert, for god’s sake—"

“You have no appreciation for the finer things in life, you uncultured—"

“I quite like camembert, actually.” Marinette interjected. Both Chat and Plagg fell silent, before the tiny cat-like god was whizzing into view, beaming as much as his little face could permit.

“A woman after my own heart! You should have been _my_ holder, you have no idea how much abuse I have to put up with from this ridiculous blond imbecile—"

“Hey!”

“Would you like a piece of my camembert, o wisest of all Miraculous holders?” Plagg held out a wedge of the rich cheese. Marinette giggled. 

“No, thank you, Plagg. You go ahead and eat that. You need your strength to deal with ‘ridiculous blond imbeciles’ after all.” She ignored Chat’s indignant _“My Lady!”_

Tikki had finished her cookie by then, and was looking exasperatedly at Plagg. “Plagg, stop trying to poach my holder! You’ve got a perfectly good Chat Noir, you know! _(“Thank you, Tikki!”)_ and my Ladybug makes the absolute best cookies, so clearly she’s meant to be with me!”

Marinette could hardly control her mirth, and was sure they would have devolved into pointless food-based meanderings had Chat not brought them back to more pressing issues. “As amusing as this is, didn’t we detransform in order to discuss important logistics regarding a possible trans-Atlantic trip?”

“It’s a sad day for the world when Chat Noir is the voice of reason in this duo.” Plagg seemingly couldn’t resist one last crack.

Still giggling, Marinette said, “Alright, you’re right, let’s focus. Plagg’s not the only one who needs beauty sleep.” 

Chat’s head leaned back against hers. “I’m sure that’s not true, My Lady.”

Plagg zipped back around to his holder. “You’re right, she’s gorgeous.” Marinette smiled. “I mean, for a human.” Of course.

Tikki sighed. “Boys! Focus!”

“Sorry, Tikki.”

“Sorry, Sugarcube.”

Marinette, feeling oddly flattered by both her partner and his kwami, was feeling quite forgiving of their antics. But the night was beginning to drag on her, and she could practically feel her soft bed calling to her from across the city. “Tell them what you told me, Tikki.”

Tikki flew to hover in front of Chat, while Plagg took up a spot resting on the top of Marinette’s head, facing the other kwami. 

“Plagg, you know most of this already, though it’s been centuries since we’ve done anything like it.” Marinette felt Plagg settle more comfortable in her hair, curling up like a cat. “There are certain protections afforded to Miraculous holders by nature, things not even we kwamis can turn off. Kwamis, as you know, cannot be filmed or photographed, but even before film was invented, we simply could not be recorded by any means. An artist, for instance, could not draw, paint, or sculpt us. And while the same is not true for our transformed holders, part of that benison is passed on to you passively.”

Marinette was enraptured. Tikki had given her the broad strokes earlier, but most of this was new information, and she was fascinated. She didn’t know if she should be sorry or relieved that Alya wasn’t here.

Tikki continued. “Even with your masks and costumes, don’t you think it’s odd that no one has been able to identify you? It’s no coincidence. When a Miraculous wielder is transformed, the magic of the Miraculous protects them from close scrutiny. People can get vague impressions—the color of your hair or eyes, other physical features, but the Miraculous actually have the ability to prevent even close observers from making the intuitive connections that would give a holder away.”

It made a disturbing amount of sense. Chat had paid closer attention to Ladybug than anyone else in the world—closer even than Alya, Ladybug’s number one fan—for years, and yet, despite having spent time with Marinette outside of her spotted persona, he had never recognized her voice, or her freckles. Never seemed to notice that she wore her hair the exact same way that Ladybug did. Marinette had always chalked it up to the fact that no one in their right mind would peg Marinette as a superhero, but Tikki’s words certainly made more sense. 

It was oddly… gratifying. 

She wondered what connections she had been prevented from making about Chat. 

“With some effort, a kwami can take that innate characteristic of the Miraculous—the part of it that truly disguises you—and extend it to when you’re not fully transformed. We can protect your identity even when you’re out of your costume.”

Chat broke in then. “Why haven’t either of you done it before?” He rushed to say, “I’m not criticizing, or anything, it’s just—we’ve had some really close calls over the years. Times when we’ve nearly discovered each other’s identity, or when an akuma has. Why not tell us it was possible?”

Tikki’s voice was soft when she replied. Marinette could imagine the kind look on her face, she’d seen it often enough. “Reliance on our powers outside of battle can be dangerous, and limiting. Those instances where you’ve nearly been revealed, they always led you to be more creative and resourceful than ever, and have helped you to learn and grow.” She sighed. “You have to understand, Plagg and I—we’re your friends. We love you both very much. But we’re also millennia old. We ourselves learn and grow with each new Miraculous holder. We’ve seen all too often what happens to heroes who come to rely on our powers too heavily. It rarely ends well.”

Marinette had been thinking, and spoke up—though careful not to dislodge the dozing kwami on her head, “Then why tell us at all? I know I was excited for this opportunity, but if you’d told us we couldn’t do it, I would have listened.” And she would have. Eventually. Never let it be said she hadn’t matured in the years she’d been Ladybug.

Tikki reentered her line of sight, hovering in front of her and smiling gently. 

“I believe I know you well enough now to know that you, of all people, would not abuse this power. You understand what it means to be a hero better than almost any Ladybug before you. I trust you, and Chat Noir, to understand the limits of what Plagg and I can do for you two.” 

Marinette smiled, her eyes prickling slightly, and scooped Tikki into her cupped hands, bringing her to her face to nuzzle gently against her cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered softly. 

Her slight movement was enough to jostle Plagg from his perch, and he tumbled down, landing with a soft ‘oof!’ on top of Tikki in Marinette’s hands. He quickly zipped back up into the air, grumbling.

“Yeah, yeah, and I’m sure those big doe eyes of yours didn’t hurt either. Alright, enough with the mushy stuff, already, get back to the long boring speech that I intend to sleep through.”

“Wait,” interrupted Marinette, “you said earlier, when you’re not _fully_ transformed.” She looked questioningly at Tikki. “What did you mean? Is it possible to be partially transformed?”

Tikki giggled, then zipped over to whisper in Plagg’s ear. He sighed and nodded.

“For this, it will be better to show you. Now, both of you should transform, but afterward you can immediately detransform. Ready?”

They both nodded and stood. Keeping their backs to each other, they spoke in unison:

“Tikki, spots on!”

“Plagg, claws out!”

Nearly as soon as the transformations had taken them over, they released them. Marinette could tell immediately that something was different. She looked down.

Instead of the leggings, sundress, and black denim jacket she had been wearing before leaving for patrol, she now wore a long-sleeved skater dress in red, with familiar black spots. Lifting the skirt to her face, she noted that the material seemed to be that of her normal costume, its strange, stretchy, and surprisingly comfortable feel unmistakable. 

On her feet were black boots of the same magical fabric, and when she touched her face, she could feel her mask. 

She spun around to look at Chat Noir, and saw him gaping down at his own new look. 

Marinette had to admit that he looked quite dashing. He now wore a black three-piece suit and black shirt. The jacket and trousers had green piping in the same shade as his eyes, still slitted and surrounded by his black mask. Curiously enough, although the rest of his usual outfit was missing, his cat ears were still atop is head. 

It was then that she noticed something even more remarkable—Plagg and Tikki were not inside their Miraculous, instead they were hovering off to the side, looking between Marinette and Chat with big grins on their faces. 

“What—" Marinette floundered, “but, how?” 

“We can create virtually any outfit we like when we withdraw ourselves from the Miraculous. Your identity is protected this way, and with the exception of your masks, the rest of your costume functions more or less like normal clothes.”

Plagg flew over to Chat and started tugging at his collar. Chat idly swatted at him. “Hey! What are you up to?”

Plagg deftly avoided Chats hands and resumed his tugging. “Normally, when a kwami is inside the Miraculous, our energy is all tied up in making sure our holders don’t kick the bucket—protecting their identity, increasing their strength and agility, and creating material that is effectively bulletproof. You’re welcome. But like this we can focus on other things like—buttons!” he cried triumphantly, and indeed, he had managed to undo the top button of Chat’s shirt. It was indeed unusual, because for all that Chat’s ordinary costume looked to have a zipper in the front, it didn’t actually function like one. These clothes they wore now, while still composed of kwami magic, did appear to be just… clothes.

Tikki sighed. “What Plagg means to say is that this is a kind of middle ground. Only a fraction of our power is required to maintain these clothes because they don’t have the same attributes as your usual costumes. They will protect you more than ordinary clothes, but not nearly as much as when you’re fully transformed.”

Marinette looked at Tikki. “How long can you keep this up?”

“Since it’s not as taxing as a full transformation, we can keep it up nearly constantly. But understand, we’re making an exception in this case. While you two are away from Paris, every time you release your transformation, Plagg and I will convert your disguises into this form, or something similar. But once you’re back home, everything will go back to how it was. We don’t want to stunt your ability to learn from mistakes and grow.” Tikki’s expression was soft and concerned. “Do you understand?”

Marinette smiled reassuringly at her. “Of course, Tikki. Thank you so much. You don’t know what this means to me.”

Chat crossed the short distance between them and grabbed her hand. “Ladybug, I’m so excited and happy we get to do this, but please—" He broke off, and fixed her with a concerned look. She couldn’t have looked away if she wanted to. “Can you tell me why? Why is this so important to you? Why take this risk?”

Marinette sighed and sat, pulling him to the floor by the hand he still held. Their knees touched as they focused intently on one another. 

“Chaton, do you know what you want to do after we’ve defeated Hawk Moth?” He didn’t look like he knew how to answer that, so she continued. “I know we will, I believe it more than I’ve ever believed anything, but what happens afterward? Do you want to keep being Chat Noir?”

“Yes,” he answered immediately. She had thought as much. “And you, Ladybug? Do you want to keep being my Bugaboo?”

She groaned. “Well, I don’t know about that,” she said, rolling her eyes but squeezing his hand to soften the blow. “And while I don’t know how I would have answered six years ago, I do know that now, I don’t want to stop being Ladybug. I want to keep being a superhero for as long as I can.” 

She glanced over at the Kwamis. “I don’t know what Master Fu has planned for us, and Tikki won’t tell me either, but if it’s possible, I want to keep being your partner, Chaton.”

He gave her a dopey smile. It morphed quickly into a look of confusion. “But what does that have to do with this convention?”

“I know it may seem silly, but I can’t help but think of this convention as a way to show Paris, show the world, that we take what we do seriously, that we intend to stick around no matter what.” She shrugged. “It’s also a marvelous opportunity to learn from other heroes, heroes who have more experience than us, who have fought a wider variety of villains.

“But most of all, I want to make sure that Paris knows that they can count on us. Not just to fight Hawk Moth and his akumas, but be the heroes they need us to be.”

Chat was looking at her with a familiar look in his eyes. She saw it every time they’d just finished fighting off an akuma, or after she’d given one impassioned speech or another. It was a look of such devotion and admiration that it’d taken her a long time to be able to look at him without blushing when he got that look on his face.

“Well then,” he sighed, “I guess we’re going to New York.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are!
> 
> Some things of note that I may address in the body of the work, but should be understood and are not spoilers:
> 
> This takes place in a fictional future for the characters of Miraculous Ladybug, roughly six years after the start of the show. Most characters are about 18 and are preparing to enter their final year of high school. Or whatever it's called in France. (Kidding, kidding, I know it's called _lycée_)
> 
> Which brings me to my next note! I am an American. I speak English fluently and have passable Spanish skills. I suck at French. I am going to avoid using French for the most part, but common terms and phrases, especially those popular in the fandom, will likely slip in. If I ever use a word or phrase incorrectly, please don't hesitate to tell me! I enjoy research, but I am bound to miss things.
> 
> Another note: the timeline for ML is absolutely ridiculous. I'm fairly certain the writers are on crack. For the most part, aired episodes can be reasonably assumed to have taken place by the time of this fic, unless future episodes directly contradict what I have written here. I will be playing fast and loose with character relationships and arcs, so be warned.
> 
> As for the Marvel Universe, I am going to be drawing almost exclusively from the MCU, though I can't promise some aspects of my limited knowledge of the comics won't slip in. Timeline-wise, this fic takes place not long after the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, with one notable change to canon—before Steve even got to leave the hospital, he talked to Tony and told him his suspicions about the role Bucky played in his parents' deaths. They hashed things out and Tony's over it now. Promise.
> 
> I haven't decided on other ships for this fic besides the ones listed above, but I do know there is going to be some background Tony/Male Character. Tags will be updated when I've decided, so just be aware that there will be some guy-on-guy PG13 romance happening in the future. 
> 
> I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but hopefully it's not too important.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter, more will follow soon!


	2. Last Minute Details

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before Chat Noir and Ladybug can leave for New York, there are some important conversations to be had.

The next day, the two heroes swung and vaulted across the city skyline, as familiar to them after years of being the Heroes of Paris as the backs of their own hands.

"The next thing we—or rather I—need to do is talk to the others," Ladybug called to Chat, pausing in patrolling to rest on an anonymous rooftop. "Rena and Carapace and everyone. I know Tikki said the other kwamis likely wouldn’t be able to maintain our sort of half-transformation, but we should let them know we’re going."

Chat nodded. "Yes, that’s a good idea. And you never know, perhaps one of them will be in New York anyway and want to stop in." He wore a devious smirk, no doubt thinking of one hero in particular.

While only Ladybug truly knew the identities of the other Heroes of Paris, it hadn’t taken long for Chat to begin to suspect Rena Rouge’s secret identity. Though, given the information they’d had dumped on them the previous night, Ladybug couldn’t for the life of her figure out how Chat had started to suspect Alya while remaining totally ignorant of the alter ego of the supposed _love of his life_.

Although, really, Chat didn’t know for certain, he just had an extremely strong suspicion, one which neither Ladybug nor Rena Rouge would confirm.

Honestly, Ladybug had _told_ Alya to be more subtle, but the way Rena would always disappear just before Alya came whipping around a corner to try and squeeze an interview out of the heroes was more than a little bit unusual.

_Really, Alya,_ Ladybug thought to herself.

Chat was right, though. Alya had told Marinette that she had convinced her parents to book her and Nino a ticket to New York City as soon as Tony Stark had announced the convention would be taking place. She’d never pass up the chance to interview superheroes, even if she hadn’t known at the time that Ladybug and Chat Noir would be attending. Alya was going to freak.

And she wouldn’t be the only one. Ladybug imagined that when word got out (most likely through the Ladyblog) that she and Chat would be heading to America, throngs of Parisians would flood the city. Their popularity had not dimmed at all over the years. In fact, it had only gained strength. Ladybug was consistently grateful that the people of Paris supported them as much as they did. It made doing their jobs that much easier.

And having half the population of Paris storming New York would be a blessing in and of itself. No one would think anything of Marinette (and whoever Chat’s mild-mannered alter ego may be) just happening to be in the city at the same time. They would be concealed in the crowd of fanatic French tourists.

Thinking of her partner, Ladybug rolled her eyes at Chat fondly. He knew as well as she did that she would never confirm Rena’s identity, he just enjoyed needling her.

Speaking to the others—Rena Rouge, Carapace, Queen Bee, and Viperion—would have to wait until daylight hours, anyway. Unfortunately, Max and Kim were already on vacation in Greece together, so Pegasus and King Monkey wouldn’t be available. She’d have to find time to visit Alya, Nino, Chloé, and Luka as Ladybug tomorrow. Luckily, with it being summer break, she didn’t have to worry about missing class.

She sat down on the low wall encircling the bit of roof they’d stopped on, letting her legs dangle over the side and admiring the lights or the city. Perhaps she was biased, but she didn’t think any city in the world could rival Paris in beauty and culture. She felt… at peace here.

"I hope they’re not too disappointed that they won’t be able to spend the week with us," she said, as Chat plopped down beside her on the wall.

He chuckled, "I’m sure they’ll be fine. And anyway, it’ll be good to have them holding down the fort while we’re gone, just in case Hawk Moth decides to crawl out of whatever hole he’s been hiding in."

"True, I hadn’t thought of that."

Chat seemed to notice the tiny furrow between her brows and swung an arm around her shoulder pulling her against him companionably.

"Don’t let doubts sneak into your thoughts now, My Lady. Your reasons for the trip are good, and Paris can survive without the two of us for a week."

Ladybug sighed. He was right, of course, but no matter how excited she was, there was no getting rid of the flutter of nerves in her belly—not just just leaving Paris undefended (or rather _under-_defended), but for leaving Paris at all. It had been years since she’d been able to take more than a day trip with her friends, much less spend a week in another country. Being Ladybug was a blessing and a curse, in that way—sometimes she felt as if her obligations hindered her ability to have any kind of meaningful life, but over time, she had come to accept that the careful balancing act she had to maintain to be both Marinette _and_ Ladybug was simply the price she had to pay. These days, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

But back to the matters at hand. Ladybug turned to Chat.

"Do you have your story prepared to cover your absence for the week we’ll be gone? It’s a tricky one—we have to tell people we’re going away, but if they expect to see us in New York, then we have to have a reason to not be around while we’re there." Chat was already nodding. "I’ve got mine covered, but if you need help coming up with something, without revealing anything to me about your identity, I can always—"

"Relax, Ladybug, I’ve already got something cooked up. With any luck, no one will question it. And it’s not like we haven’t gotten out of tight jams before."

Chat and Ladybug smiled at each other. He was right, they’d been doing this long enough that it had nearly become second nature to them to think of excuses and explanations. Marinette, of course, would always be Marinette, and she couldn’t help the occasional babbling nonsense that escaped her despite extensive experience with lying—_‘I was running from the akuma and tripped and fell into a garbage can and I guess you guys couldn’t hear me yelling and you just ran past me and by the time I got unstuck the akuma was right there and I got turned into one of those seaweed monsters!’_—and while it still galled her to lie to her friends, she knew it was the lesser of two evils.

This time, at least, she had an excuse that should be able to cover all manner of sins.

Two years ago her uncle, Wang Cheng, had discovered her secret in the way no one could explain away. He had been visiting Paris again as a guest chef for Le Grand Paris when Hawk Moth had targeted a mean-spirited and ornery food critic. While the fight itself had been run-of-the-mill, in the aftermath, she hadn’t noticed her uncle seeking cover in the kitchen supply closet she had chosen to detransform in. He had seen everything. He then told Marinette that he had suspected some relation between her Ladybug ever since the time he had been akumatized in that same hotel. He vowed to keep her secret, and since he was rarely in Paris, she had not worried overmuch about his safety from Hawk Moth.

Now, he was opening a new restaurant in New York City, and Marinette had convinced her parents to let her attend the superhero convention with the promise that she would be staying with her uncle and helping him with preparations for the opening.

Her friends, meanwhile, had been told that helping her uncle would likely take up most of her time while in New York, and she would only be able to sneak away occasionally. With her uncle to back her up and cover for her, she was sure she could get through the week without anyone the wiser.

She didn’t know what story Chat had cooked up to excuse his absence, but as she would do nothing to jeopardize his identity, she simply had to trust that he had things in order.

"If you’re sure, then I trust you, Chaton." She bumped her shoulder against his. "We should probably call it a night, we have a lot of preparing to do, and I for one would like to get more than three hours of sleep tonight."

Chat laughed. "It’s summer vacation, My Lady! You can sleep in however long you want!"

Ladybug snorted. "Maybe you can, Kitty, but that simply doesn’t fly at my house. My folks are early risers." She stood and pulled him to his feet as well. "Get some rest, Chat. I’ll see you tomorrow night for patrol, and I’ll let you know how talking to the others went then."

"Goodnight, My Lady." Still holding her hand, he bent to give it a light kiss. Only when he had done that did she tug it from his grip and playfully flick one of his ears.

"Good night, Chat." She grabbed her yoyo and swung away into the glittering Parisian night.

* * *

Finding Alya the next day was fairly easy. While she and Marinette hadn’t been able to spend as much time together this summer as they had in the past, what with Marinette helping her parents more in the bakery and taking commissions on the side to expand her brand, and Alya’s internship at TVi, they still texted many times a day, and she knew Alya was spending the day with Nino at the park nearest to their school.

Ladybug typically tried to keep her daytime appearances (outside of akuma attacks) to a minimum, since people tended to cause a fuss, and luckily she managed to drop in on the couple as they were cutting through an alley between an ice cream shop and the park. There was no one else around, but Ladybug still wanted to keep things short. If for no other reason than that their ice cream would melt before they even got to the park.

"Hey, guys!" she chirped, startling them.

"Ladybug!" they both chorused, nearly dropping their cones. "What’s wrong? Is there an akuma?!" Alya questioned as she pulled out her phone, no doubt wondering why she hadn’t gotten an alert.

"No, no. No akuma. I just wanted to let you guys know something important. I’ll be talking to everyone sometime today, but I wanted you two to be first." She positioned herself so that she wouldn’t be easily seen from either mouth of the alley. She didn’t need fans to interrupt this conversation.

Nino tilted his head as Alya’s eyes gleamed. No doubt she could smell the story in the air. "What is it?"

She decided to dive right in. "You know that superhero convention that the Avengers are putting on?" They both nodded, of course. "Chat and I will be attending."

Alya squealed loudly, clapping her free hand to her mouth. Nino gave her an indulgent grin and took a lick of his dripping ice cream.

"That’s awesome, dude! You’re gonna meet the Avengers!" Count on Nino to be a soothing presence next to his excitable other half. Alya was still squealing.

"Thanks, Nino. I wanted to let everyone know before we leave, especially since I’m fairly sure you both will be heading there, too."

"Yeah, we booked our tickets almost as soon as it was announced. I’ve only just managed to get Alya back to normal." He glanced at his practically vibrating girlfriend. "Guess I have start all over again." He laughed.

Ladybug scratched the back of her head, giving an embarrassed laugh. "Sorry about that. I’m sure she’ll calm down soon."

At this point, Alya immediately burst in. "Oh my god! This is incredible! I was already so excited to get to see the Avengers and now you’re both gonna be there! This is insane!"

Ladybug smiled at her. "There’s another thing I wanted to talk to you about. Chat’s and my kwamis have a way of protecting our identities while we’re there, even when we’re not transformed, but I’m sorry, they told us the other kwamis are a little too young to be able to do the same for the rest of you." Both Alya and Nino looked fascinated.

The other heroes had become full-time holders of their Miraculous only about a year ago now. Master Fu had assured her that he would be able to protect the Miracle Box without a kwami to help out, but it had been a bittersweet parting for them both. Ladybug knew Nino went over to his home frequently so that Master Fu and Wayzz could spend time together.

They were exemplary heroes, but for all intents and purposes they were still pretty new to the world of the Miraculous. They all, even Nino (who had a less naturally inquisitive mind than Alya, as a journalist), absorbed whatever knowledge they were able to glean from their kwamis and Master Fu. Wayzz, the only kwami whose experience rivaled Tikki’s (since he had spent decades with the Guardian), was notoriously tight-lipped. For the most part, the other heroes had to rely on what she, Chat, and the Guardian chose to tell them.

"It’s a fairly long story, and if you want to hear all of it, come to patrol tonight and Chat and I will fill you in, but the point is this: while you’re in New York, if you want to stop in as Rena Rouge and Carapace, you’re welcome to. You won’t be able to spend the whole week with us, but as long as you’re careful about your identity, you deserve a chance to learn from the other heroes as well."

Alya squealed again, this time at an even higher pitch. Honestly, Ladybug had expected her excitement, but she’d never know Alya to be this… _giddy_.

She laughed and rolled her eyes.

This time, when Alya calmed down, she seemed to be back to her normal self, albeit a little more highly strung.

"Absolutely! That would be amazing! While it’s true I want to spend most of my time there as Alya, since this is an awesome chance to get some unbelievable stuff for the Ladyblog, and maybe a chance to turn my internship with TVi into a permanent position, there is literally no way I would pass up a chance to hang out with superheroes _as a superhero_."

Ladybug was sure Alya’s use of adjectives would return to a normal level eventually.

"Amazing, awesome, _and_ unbelievable, babe?" Nino laughed, and only laughed harder when Alya slugged him on the arm.

"You can’t tell me you’re not excited, too!"

He grinned. "Oh no, I definitely am! Count on it, LB, you’ll see us while we’re there!"

Ladybug grinned at them. "I’m glad. And don’t worry, Alya, I’m freaking out on the inside." She pulled her yoyo from her hip and prepared to swing away. "Chat and I are meeting at the Arc de Triomphe at 10 o’clock tonight. If you want to talk more, come find us then!"

With that, she left them to their date.

* * *

The conversations with Chloé and Luka went about the same (though Luka, at least, did not squeal). Both expressed interest in learning more about the partial transformation, and she imagined they wouldn’t be getting much patrolling done that night.

Unfortunately, she learned that _all_ of the current Heroes of Paris planned to be in New York for the convention, which meant that Paris would be unprotected from Hawk Moth for the entire week. She would never force them to cancel their plans, and Chat would never let her stay behind, so she could only hope that whatever had kept Hawk Moth from creating any akumas recently would keep him busy while they were gone.

That night, she’d turned out to be right in her prediction that they would be doing little patrolling. Rena, Carapace, Queen Bee, and Viperion all arrived at the Arc de Triomphe promptly at 10 o’clock, and they went from there to a more secluded area to explain the precautions Tikki and Plagg would be taking to protect their identities while away from home.

The other heroes were disappointed they couldn’t do the same, but impressed by what she and Chat showed them. When Ladybug showed them the partial transformation, Rena had said, "Oh man, Casual Ladybug is definitely something I’ll be suggesting to my designer friend," making her smile underneath her mask. No doubt Alya would be coming to Marinette soon to suggest a range of designs based on the Heroes of Paris. It would definitely be a fun challenge.

When the others departed for the night, she and Chat stayed behind for a bit, as they usually did, talking and enjoying each other’s company. They’d grown closer over the years, and while Marinette was still head over heels for Adrien, she knew Chat was truly her closest friend. She wouldn’t trade her time with him for anything in the world.

As the years had passed, she had come to know that Chat’s feelings for Ladybug were honest and genuine. He truly loved her. And while she had her own complicated feelings about Chat loving only one side of herself, she rejoiced in the unconditional devotion her partner had for her, and even returned it, in her own way.

Their partnership was a strong one, born of love and trust and tested beyond reason by the trials they’d faced together. She never wanted to be without it.

She only hoped it would survive a week in close quarters.

As Marinette drifted off to sleep that night, cuddled against the cat pillow she wasn’t sure she’d ever outgrow, a chilling thought wrenched her eyes open and made her sit up straight in her bed.

_I’m going to be living with Chat Noir for a week!_

Marinette didn’t know if it was excitement or dread that flooded through her then, but whatever it was, it kept her up well into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Haha wow, so this is later than I wanted it to be, but this chapter was difficult for me to write, probably because it's mostly filler, and also because I have a hard time writing Alya and Nino. Anyway, it's out, so yay! Let's get down to business. 
> 
> I mentioned in my last note I have a troubled relationship with the "timeline" of Miraculous Ladybug. In that it doesn't exist, and that makes me angry. So I need to clarify a couple of things here. 
> 
> FUN FACT: In the English version of the episode "The Pharaoh" (which is one of the first damn episodes of the first damn season) Alya identifies the textbook that Ladybug drops as a "10th grade history book," the very same book she has in her possession, seemingly because she is a _10th grader_. Only, after I published the first chapter of this fic, I went poking about on the ML wiki, and find that series creator Thomas _fucking_ Astruc said in a goddamn tweet that Marinette would have been about 12 when she first became Ladybug??? And that by the more current episodes she would be about 15??????? But for those of you who may not know the American school system (which I am going by since Alya herself references _10th grade_ and from the little I understand of France's ridiculous school system 10th grade is not a thing there) 10th graders are typically 15 at the start of the school year.
> 
> So. I started this fic with the understanding that Marinette was about 14–15 when she became Ladybug and that the course of the series as it exists so far took place over about a year or two, maybe a little more. 
> 
> However, I am revising that at this point. You win, Astruc, you crazy fucking man. Marinette was _12 goddamn years old_ when she became a superhero because that's fucking hilarious. As such, Chat and Ladybug have been superhero-ing for about five or six years. After I post this chapter I'm gonna go back and make the necessary corrections to the first chapter and my previous notes.
> 
> 12 years old. For fucks sake.
> 
> ANYWAY, on to other points. 
> 
> After some thought, I have decided to do a little hand-waving. In this universe, no one but Ladybug knows that Chloé is Queen Bee. I don't care how you decide that came to pass, and I may think it through and write it into the story (or just put it in a future note) but for now— *waves hand*
> 
> While I've said before that I may be drawing from more recent episodes (as with the appearance of Viperion, etc.) this universe can reasonably be said to be canon-divergent from the end of season two (based on the Netflix order, because I'm lazy). Other events and characters will, again, likely be mentioned however, so this is officially _not_ a spoiler-free fic.
> 
> On a final note, I know I just kinda brushed over the fact that Chat has a _strong suspicion_ about Rena's identity, and the fact that it kinda contradicts a lot of what I said in the last chapter, but we _will_ be coming back to that in a later chapter, maybe even the next one, if I can squeeze it in. I'm not trying to be inconsistent here, just trying to maintain the pacing of this story. Can't do everything in every chapter. 
> 
> Next time I'll talk some more about the Marvel characters I will likely be including, which may constitute a tags-update.
> 
> As per usual, I'm likely forgetting something. My mind is a disaster. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> P.S. I know I use both chaton and kitty, despite the fact that chaton _means_ kitty. It's silly, but as an English speaker, the words have different connotations for me, so yeah. I'll likely keep doing that. Sorry for the long note, if you actually read it, more power to you!


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